


Plant

by KateyLily



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Siblings, Gavin Reed Redemption, Gen, Plants, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Succulents, This is platonic btw, everyone’s a little ooc, sorry :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 19:32:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19752376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KateyLily/pseuds/KateyLily
Summary: Feeling guilty over his previous actions, Gavin buys Connor a plant and gives it to him anonymously.





	Plant

It had been a few months since the android revolution. New laws were being hashed out and the DPD was dealing with the fallout—double the people meant double the crimes.

Gavin sighed, rubbing his temples. He nursed a lukewarm coffee and a pounding headache as he filed the fifth report of an android that was attacked.

Since the revolution was peaceful and both parties wanted to avoid a war, the US government was willing to talk to the deviants and work out compromises. The evacuation on Detroit was lifted, and most of the humans returned. Some of them, however, had a bone to pick with the androids, hence all the new cases of assault landing on the desks of everyone in the precinct. Understaffed with the police androids and some human officers gone and overtaxed with the never-ending stream of crime, the coffee machine was in near constant use as the remaining human officers worked overtime to wrap up all the cases.

Gavin thumbed through another file as he wrapped up the one he had just been working on, grimacing as he lifted his mug up to his face only to find it empty. Despite Markus’ best efforts and peaceful message, some androids were angry. Although there were fewer, there were also cases of androids assaulting humans, either in retaliation for a personal grudge or for no reason other than they were human. He had laughed earlier at the implications of what it meant that the supposedly “soulless machines” were less belligerent than the humans.

After the revolution, Gavin found himself re-examining his view on androids. It was no secret that he despised them; he was an even worse android-hater than Anderson, although the man seemed to have done a complete 180 as he worked with Connor. He thought they were nothing more than emotionless machines that stole jobs, just _things_ that Elijah had pushed him away for, that his parents had praised him for while Gavin was left in his shadow. However, after witnessing several of the deviant cases and deviants themselves showing emotion—even _singing_ as they stared down the barrels of guns—he had been surprised to note that he was questioning his previous assumption. He began unconsciously referring to androids as “he” or “she” instead of “it”, and eventually started seeing them as more than soulless reflections of his half-brother.

He was snapped out of his paperwork-induced trance when his best friend Tina Chen suddenly appeared beside him, holding two cups of steaming hot coffee.

“Thanks, Ti, you’re an angel,” he said, grinning as he eagerly snatching the coffee she set down in front of him. She smiled, amused.

“Did you hear the news?” she asked. He glanced at her, confused. She took that as a no. “The bill that allows androids to get jobs was just passed a little while ago. And according to a rumor I heard, Connor’s coming back to work tomorrow,” she explained.

Gavin paused. He didn’t know very much about what happened to Connor besides seeing him on the news at the head of a literal android army. He did know, however, that he was staying with Anderson.

The lieutenant had been suspended for decking Perkins, but returned to work soon enough, practically _radiating_ pro-android sentiment. He tore down all his anti-android slogans and replaced them with pro-android stickers that said random philosophical-sounding stuff like “I think therefore I am,” or something. And he couldn’t seem to shut up about Connor. Gavin supposed it was only a matter of time until Captain Fowler caved and rehired him.

Gavin cocked an eyebrow, turning to face his friend. “So? What’s that got to do with anything?”

She frowned. “I just thought you’d like to know. Considering you bullied him and tried to kill him once.”

“Twice,” he corrected before he could stop himself. He grimaced, shifting his gaze from Tina’s unimpressed stare. “I don’t know, should I apologize to him or something?”

“That depends. Do you feel guilty? You were kind of a jerk,” she chided playfully, smirking. He returned the expression before sighing.

“...Yeah, I think I do,” he paused, waiting to see if she would interject. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to, he continued. “Since this whole revolution thing, I’ve been re-examining my view of androids. Who knows? Maybe they are alive.”

She pursed her lips, thoughtful. “I’ve been thinking, too. You might be right.” She looked down, biting her lip. “Anyway, I’ve gotta get back to work. See ya later,” she turned and left. Gavin’s eyes followed her as she walked away.

Shrugging, he went back to work, sipping the coffee Tina had given him. How could he apologize to Connor? Would a gift work? He supposed he had a few more hours to figure it out.

* * *

Gavin walked into the store and went to the plant aisle. He decided to choose something simple, like a cactus, that wouldn’t require too much work to keep alive. He had no idea how much gardening experience Connor had, and—wait, could androids download gardening programs?

He whipped out his phone and looked it up.  _Why am I thinking so hard about this? It’s just a plant_ , he thought, but continued to type. After skimming the first few results he opened up an article about how downloading protocols specific to certain android models worked.

Now that androids were free to pursue their own dreams or whatever, CyberLife had released all the protocols specific to certain models, meaning that a nanny bot could learn how to do construction work if they wanted to. So, technically, if Connor wanted to know exactly how to perfectly care for some random exotic plant Gavin found, he could.

He still ended up choosing a succulent. He didn’t know why, but he felt like Connor was the type of person who would rather learn something by himself instead of just downloading it. He bought the plant and exited the store, heading to his apartment and cats for the night.

* * *

The next day Gavin arrived earlier than normal, which was very early considering he usually came in before anyone else. Say what you want about his personality, but Gavin was a good detective and worked very hard at his job, thank you very much. He pushed the door open and entered the precinct.

As he predicted, the bullpen was empty. He pulled out the small wrapped box containing both the plant and a small note he had typed last night, placing it on Connor’s desk.

He was careful not to leave any trace that it was him who got the gift. He had even worn gloves to the store, and was wearing them now. Of course he did, he wasn’t about to risk Connor doing his weird fingerprint-analysis-thing and figuring out who did it! Yes it was supposed to be an apology gift, but he had a reputation to uphold, after all, and the last thing he needed was anyone thinking he had gone soft.

It was a pair of those disposable latex gloves too, the common ones that came in boxes of like a hundred. He stuffed them in his desk drawer after placing the box down, planning to wait until he was back at home to throw them out. He had no idea how far Connor was willing to go to figure out who left the gift, but he wouldn’t put it past the Tin Can to dumpster dive to complete his self imposed “mission” or whatever.

He sighed, and disappeared into the break room. A few minutes later, clutching his new coffee, he booted up his terminal. Time to start working.

About an hour later, several people began trickling in. Gavin kept his head down and buried in his work as he resolutely ignored the figures of Hank and Connor that entered. Some people went up to Connor and congratulated him. Through the discreet glances Gavin managed to sneak, he seemed surprised, but happy. Hank grinned and led him to Fowler’s office.

He emerged several minutes later holding a badge and looking like a little kid on Christmas. He strode to his desk before pausing to look at the gift, puzzled.

Gavin stopped watching them after that, deliberately ignoring them. Sneaking glances would only seem suspicious at this point. He managed to overhear their conversation, however.

“Hank? Did you get me a gift?” Connor asked, confused.

“No, I didn’t... must be from one of the other officers,” Hank offered, just as confused. Connor remained silent. “Well? Aren’t you gonna open it?” he ventured.

Connor seemed to startle if the sudden answer was anything to go by. “Oh-yes! Sorry, Hank, I was analyzing it. I didn’t find any fingerprints.”

Hank laughed. “Analyzing it? Well, whatever, maybe it’s from another android.”

Connor paused, seemingly deep in thought. “I detected traces of latex gloves on the box. It was likely a human.”

Gavin could practically hear the frown in Hank’s voice. “Who would go to so much trouble to conceal their identity?” Gavin clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to peek. He picked up and guzzled his coffee instead.

“I don’t know,” Connor replied, thankfully not looking Gavin’s way. He paused for a moment longer before ripping open the gift. “It’s a plant.  _Echeveria elegans_.”

“Echie-what-now?” Hank asked, then spoke up again before Connor could respond. “Hey, what’s that?” he asked, likely referring to the printed note Gavin had stuck in there as well. Gavin set down his coffee and pulled up another case file on his terminal, pretending to read it.

“It’s a typed note,” Connor began. “It says ‘Welcome to the team.’ It’s not signed,” Connor clarified, sounded confused again.

Gavin could hear the smile in Hank’s voice. “Well, that was nice of whoever got it for you. Anyway, let’s get to work, son.”

* * *

A couple hours later, Gavin sat up and stretched. He had hit a dead end in his latest case and needed a break. He was about to get up and trek to the break room, when a shadow suddenly loomed over him.

He looked up, confusion shifting to guarded wariness as he registered Connor standing in front of his desk, holding a coffee.

“Hello, Detective Reed,” he began politely. “Would you like a coffee?” Gavin blinked in surprise. Okay, he hadn’t been expecting  _that_. If anything, he expected the android to dump the coffee on him, and then slap him or something for good measure.

“Uhh... sure,” he began carefully, wondering if it was poisoned or something. “Thanks, Tin Can.” It would normally sound like an insult, but it lacked the usual bite, and sounded more like an endearing nickname than anything else. Connor was surprised, but simply smiled in response as Gavin took the coffee and sipped it.

“You’re welcome, Detective. Thanks for the plant.” Gavin choked on the coffee in surprise, but when he looked up, Connor was already walking away.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first complete DBH fic! It’s also one of the first things I’ve tried writing in a few years, so sorry if it’s bad ;;v;;
> 
> Sorry that everyone’s kinda OOC, I’m still trying to figure out the characters >_<
> 
> Also, if you’re wondering how Connor figured it out, it’s because he rationalized that only Gavin would work that hard to conceal his identity. Also I imagine he detected some cat hair on the plant, and then found the same hair on Gavin’s chair when he brought him the coffee. Gavin’s reaction just confirmed it for him :P


End file.
